Lost

"The Other Woman" was looked down upon by many Lost fans, possibly because it followed "The Constant," which was one mind-blowing hour of television.  Juliet's on-island flashbacks couldn't quite live up to Desmond's time tripping, and the episode also didn't give us much in the way of new mythology. That aside, I was happy to see some gaps in Juliet's past filled in, and any episode that gives Elizabeth Mitchell and Michael Emerson a chance to shine is alright by me.

For an episode that didn't bury us in new mythology, it certainly did raise a lot of questions.   Read on to see the five that I'm dying to have answered.

1)  What's with the whispers?

This is a question that we've been asking for seasons, but we were once again reminded of the mysterious jungle whispers in "The Other Woman."  The whispers can be heard when Harper appears and disappears to Juliet in the jungle, but why?

In this article, my colleague John Kubicek theorizes that the whispers happen when someone is being transported through space and time.  It's long been theorized that the Orchid station is being used for teleportation experiments, and this would certainly explain how the Others manage to appear so randomly in the jungle.   The whispers may be a kind of residue that happens whenever someone is temporarily unstuck in time.  It sounds plausible to me, especially now that Lost is truly delving into the nature of time travel.

2)  Will we learn more about Harper?

Sometimes Others appear on Lost and are never seen again, like that Isabel character from "Stranger in a Strange Land" who nobody remembers.  Will Harper go the same route, or is there more to her story that we've yet to see?

It feels like there's still so much about Harper we've yet to learn.  First up, is she alive or dead?  While she may be alive and teleporting as I mentioned above, she could also be a ghost or a manifestation of the smoke monster.  I'd also like to know how she managed to contact Ben while he was in captivity, and why she had a Hanso logo on the diploma in her office.  I'm not asking for her to have her own flashback episode, but I do think there's more to her character that we may learn in the future.

3)  Who planned to release the poisonous gas?

According to Charlotte (Rebecca Mader), Ben was the one attempting to release poisonous gas on to the island.  I normally wouldn't question his involvement, but this is one time when blaming Ben seems a bit fishy to me.  Considering that he's been in captivity for a while, when would he have found time to go to the Tempest station to set that up?  And why would he plan to wipe out everyone on the island while he's still on it?  If Ben and all the Others died, who would protect the island from Widmore and his men?

If we can assume that Harper was in contact with Ben, I guess it's possible that she followed his orders and set the gas to release.  However, I'm not blaming this one on Ben until I see some solid proof.

4)  Who does Juliet remind Ben of?

While Juliet is in therapy with Harper, the therapist tells her that Ben likes her because she looks like someone from his past.  Who?  It could be his childhood friend Annie, who we saw in "The Man Behind the Curtain," or it could be Ben's mother, who did bear a strong resemblance to Juliet.  Are there other possibilities?

5)  Who was Charles Widmore assaulting in the video?

In Ben's safe, there was a video showing Widmore beating up a man that Ben claimed was one of the Others.  Who could it be?  My best guess is that it was Mikhail, who may have lost his eye due to this extreme beating.  I may be biased by the fact that I really want Mikhail to make another appearance on the show, but it seems plausible.  In reality, we don't have enough information about this mangled Other to do anything but guess.

Next week I'll wrap up this series of questions by revisiting "Ji Yeon" and "Meet Kevin Johnson."


- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)